28 ,; frl? J HE 1HEÄJ R E -,'\.\ ' I "; l. I\'. - . <". [01'0 "". \7 0' . :\." / \ o" .- f " · ø e:J . \: .. t ' , 'I I I II. i I ;If, , " . .1 .........-J ï' # . ;'. O, Z., . ':_ IE . f l! lF.;, . ' ",:, l THANK THE ACTORS T HERE must have been some good reason for translating the title "Espoir" into "Promise" when the Henry Bernstein play was moved from Paris to London, so we won't quibble about that. The wonder is, however, that anyone thought it worth while to translate it at all. Not that it is a bad play. On the con- trary, of its kind it is excellent, and H. M. Harwood has made a translation which giv'es all the characters the privi- lege <Jf speaking .English instead of froz- en Fre"nch. But its kind, the drawing- room problem of a Parisian family who thrash the whole- thing out in little groups of twO' and three, scene after scene, would seem, on the face of it, to be destined for box-office drought; at any rate, in America. We are an im- patient people, especially with French family problems. <1 , lit- / Y J It is possible that Gilbert Miller, in producing "Promise," thought to en- liven the slower passages of the domes- tic ructions with superlative acting, to a point where the audience might for- get that it was being bored. In this, he has almost succeeded, for he has as- sembled what is known as a "sterling cast," and there are moments, especial- ly in the second and third acts, when that old thrill of the theatre comes surg- ing over you, and you know that you are seeing good actors in good scenes. As far as I, personally, am concerned, these moments made "Promise" worth while. I am simply saying that I am afraid that there aren't enough paying customers who are willing to take the rap. I wish there were. Unfortunately, Sir Cedric Hard- wicke, Mr. Miller's chief entry, while giving a sensitive and highly intelligent { , ---. .. [Jr; b I ,,'II' \ I. o ,\ 8 ..7 , ø C) =:) "YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU" performance in the rôle of the brow- heaten paterfamilias, has toned his act- ing down so low as to accentuate, rath- er than relieve, the slightly interminable quality of the piece. He has every justi- fication for his characterization, except that it does slow things up. In another type of play it would stand out more clearly as the exquisite piece of work that it is, but in ctpromise" it only brings the screaming point that much nearer. His Emile Delbar seems constantly on the verge of a stroke, and, in the last act, when he dozes off in his armchair, I am sure that everyone in the audience took it for granted that he was dead. The fact that he didn't die, after three acts of dragging one foot in the grave) was one of the big surprises of the play. On the other hand, Irene Browne throws an enormous amount of life in- to things as the Managing Mamma, and gives a splendid performance into the bargain. Frank Lawton, too, is one of the more rugged factors as the vacillating fiancé, and, with his honest and ingratiating playing, helps make several of those big scenes we were talk- ing about. In the rôle of the family Cinderella who ends up with the prince, Jean Forbes-Robertson does high cred- it to her name with as fine and dignified a per- formance as any young lady has given here- abouts in a long time, and Louise Platt, al- though less in evidence, gives a certain needed zest to the proceedings whenever she comes JhW f o If this picture looks a bit mad, it is because everyone in it is mad, except Willian J. Kelly, way up zn the right-hand corner. The rest, reading vaguely fron left to right, are George Tobias, Paula Trueman, Frank Wzlcox, Henry Travers, George Heller, and Josephine Hull. At the Booth. on. As a matter of fact, if you are interested in high-class acting, you h ld " p ." S ou see romlse. In the face of the gen- eral public demand for action, however, I am afraid that there is not much espoir for it. T HE acting in "A- round the Cor- ner" is of a more earthy variety, but, in its un- obtrusive way, and in Martin Flavin's more than uno btrusive play, it is quite remarkable in these days when all the good actors are sup- posed to be in Holly- wood. Mr. Flavin has given